Léa Seydoux Joins Dune Part Two Cast
Turns out the real crime of the future was assuming that Denis Villeneuve was done filling out "Dune: Part Two" with an all-star cast of name-brand talent. Awful segue? Yeah, I agree.
Hot off her turn in David Cronenberg's latest body horror movie "Crimes of the Future," Léa Seydoux has been approached to join Villeneuve on the spice-addled world of "Dune." That's the exciting news according to Deadline, which reports that the actor is "in negotiations" to portray the supporting character of Lady Margot Fenring. She's only the latest star to add her prestigious presence to the highly-anticipated sequel, after the castings of Florence Pugh as the Princess Irulan, Christopher Walken as the Padishah Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV, and "Elvis" star Austin Butler as Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen (the same role famously played by Sting in the David Lynch film).
Should this deal fall into place as expected, Seydoux will join an absolutely stacked roster that already includes returning stars Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides, Rebecca Ferguson as his fierce Bene Gesserit mother Lady Jessica, Zendaya as Chani, and Josh Brolin as Gurney Halleck, among many others. Villeneuve, of course, is returning as writer and director on "Dune: Part Two" alongside writer Jon Spaihts.
Seydoux's casting would seem to indicate a sizable amount of screen time for the character of Lady Margot, who appeared in the first "Dune" book by author Frank Herbert but was excised in Villeneuve's adaptation of the first half of the novel.
Léa Seydoux joins Dune
The casting of "No Time to Die" and "The French Dispatch" star Léa Seydoux is sure to excite fans of the original "Dune" novels, in which Lady Margot plays an integral part in the vast empire-wide machinations of the war between the Atreides family and the Harkonnens over control of the immensely valuable desert planet Arrakis. Similar to Rebecca Ferguson's Lady Jessica, Lady Margot is part of the order of the Bene Gesserit (essentially eugenics-obsessed space-witches who've tried to alter bloodlines over the millennia to end up with the Chosen One, Paul Atreides). Married to the (currently uncast) character of Count Hasimir Fenring, Lady Margot is described as "a long-standing servant of the Sisterhood" who carries out the Bene Gessirit's agenda while in the court of the Emperor.
In the novel, both Hasimir and Margot Fenring were the previous residents of the vast palatial house that Lady Jessica, Duke Leto Atreides (played by Oscar Isaac in the film), and the rest of House Atreides move into once settled on Arrakis at the beginning of the story. Lady Margot and Hasimir both receive some fascinating storylines towards the end of the novel, setting up their political influence on both the Emperor and House Harkonnen once the power dynamic shifts after the Duke's death and the scattering of the Atreides clan on Arrakis. Needless to say, Seydoux's casting adds plenty of heft to this role.
"Dune: Part Two" is scheduled to release on October 20, 2023, with who knows how many more A-listers in tow.